On The Biggest Downswing Of My Career

[Tehtoe 3]

2-3 WEEKS!?! Doubt that's possible.

[potatoman 0]

I've been playing poker for ..3-4 years? I've probably had 2-3 really bad cold streaks that lasted between 4-6 weeks. Of those three, two would be periods of time where I would put in the hours and make $0. When you're pulling in $800-$1000 a month, making $0 REALLY sucks and can have you seriously questioning your game, even if it's the same game that's been so successful month after month. That's the funny thing with poker. We freak out when we end up running bad over the course of 5000-10,000 hands.. Even though, over the course of 100,000 or 1,000,000 hands, we're almost guaranteed to make a good ROI. Yet, people make their situation worse by getting emotional, going on tilt, ignoring good bankroll management, not taking a break etc.I had one really bad streak about 2-3 months ago, where I lost almost half my bankroll. I'm sure when I tell you I had AA run down no less than four times in a row by junk hands, you'll relate. It got so bad that when my opponent called my allin with 3 outs, I was sick to my stomach, because I "knew" I was about to lose the pot with two cards to come. That's not a good play to be.What do you do? If you feel you're emotionally affected by a long streak of bad beats, take a break. At the very least, drop WAY down, and play for fun. Get your confidence back. I also found scaling back the variety of games I played also helped. If your best game is omaha, play that exclusively and build your backroll back up. If sngs are a steady source of money, play them exclusively. Get your focus back.You really do have to be emotionally detached from results, and pay attention to improving your game. Some people will never know how truly horrible you can run in this game. But you're certainly not alone. GL!

[Biff Goods 0]

buy in to a table and purposely fold every hand for 50 hands, no matter what you get dealt. Don't know why this helps me but it always does.

[Fade2241 0]

nobody plays well through a downswing. you need to get a little results oriented because if your results say you are losing after enough time or too much too fast you are in fact losing in poker mathland also. for most people trying to play through a downswing seriously compounds the problem.

I know a few people who play well through downswings, and they also happen to be very good players. That's what seperates the great players from the rest of the pack. Also, there was a pretty big if in my post - you have to know you are making the correct plays before you can throw out results. I guess we'll agree to disagree.

[Darth Maple 0]

I would always go on a great run, building up and up and up then hitting a cold streak. I would lose the lot through these which obviously if I wanted to play successfully, this was something I just had to change. After many strategies in trying to correct this I reached this strategy that works for me:For example - I played around 6 tables and got sucked out on everyone one of them. Had 4th highest chips out of 22 in a 180 man game and had AQ all in on the flop (check-raised all in) of A x x on the safest board in britain. Got called by A7 and the turn was a 7. I was out in 22nd instead of having the chip lead. So I closed the table and said 'This site has got me good today' - I then proceed to the cashier and transferred 90% of my roll out to Neteller then onto another site to play there for a bit and then return to PS when am ready.It works for me!!I guess my attitude is something like:-'I'm paying for a service (to play poker) on a particular site (Stars) and if you don't want my custom (getting fecked over by the game) then I'll take my money elsewhere (cashout to Neteller).'

[Snake Plissken 0]

I've been playing poker for ..3-4 years? I've probably had 2-3 really bad cold streaks that lasted between 4-6 weeks. Of those three, two would be periods of time where I would put in the hours and make $0. When you're pulling in $800-$1000 a month, making $0 REALLY sucks and can have you seriously questioning your game, even if it's the same game that's been so successful month after month. That's the funny thing with poker. We freak out when we end up running bad over the course of 5000-10,000 hands.. Even though, over the course of 100,000 or 1,000,000 hands, we're almost guaranteed to make a good ROI. Yet, people make their situation worse by getting emotional, going on tilt, ignoring good bankroll management, not taking a break etc.I had one really bad streak about 2-3 months ago, where I lost almost half my bankroll. I'm sure when I tell you I had AA run down no less than four times in a row by junk hands, you'll relate. It got so bad that when my opponent called my allin with 3 outs, I was sick to my stomach, because I "knew" I was about to lose the pot with two cards to come. That's not a good play to be.What do you do? If you feel you're emotionally affected by a long streak of bad beats, take a break. At the very least, drop WAY down, and play for fun. Get your confidence back. I also found scaling back the variety of games I played also helped. If your best game is omaha, play that exclusively and build your backroll back up. If sngs are a steady source of money, play them exclusively. Get your focus back.You really do have to be emotionally detached from results, and pay attention to improving your game. Some people will never know how truly horrible you can run in this game. But you're certainly not alone. GL!

really good post potatoman